The present invention relates to a food container, and, more particularly, to a molded plastic food container generally having the configuration and features of the type of container typically used to transport oriental food for the off-premises consumption thereof.
Food containers made from folded cardboard--such as SBS or bleached board--or similar paper-like materials are known. Once the cardboard has been appropriately folded, the resulting containers typically include a flat bottom surrounded by four sloped upstanding sidewalls, the upper edges of which define an opening which is above and opposite from the bottom. The opening is closeable by four flaps each of which is connected to the upper edge of one of the sidewalls. The flaps may be outwardly folded to expose the opening to permit placement of food into the container. Thereafter, the flaps may be inwardly folded to cover and close the opening. One of the flaps may include a slit near its free edge and the diametrically opposed flap may include a tab or tongue on its free edge. The tab may be interfitted into the slit to hold the flaps closed. The ends of a piece of formed wire are inserted through and attached to portions of the folded cardboard to constitute a handle for the container and to maintain the container in its folded condition.
The slope of the sidewalls of folded cardboard food containers has traditionally been approximately 6.degree. away from the vertical major axis of the container. It was apparently empirically found many years ago that such a 6.degree. slope offered several advantages. Specifically, the 6.degree. slope permits empty folded containers with their flaps unfolded and not covering their openings to be conveniently nested and stacked and thereafter separated for use and storage. Nesting and stacking is achieved by inserting an upper container into a lower container. An angle much smaller than 6.degree. (i.e., about 4.degree.) results in the containers becoming self-locking or jammed together and difficult to separate. A significantly larger angle may render a nested stack of the containers unstable and permit the stock to fall over.
Folded cardboard containers have several disadvantages. First, much of the cardboard which goes into the folded container is "wasted" in that it serves no function other than to permit the container to be folded into a leak-proof unit. Those portions of the folded cardboard to which the ends of the wire handle are usually connected constitute, for the most part, excess cardboard, the elimination of which would constitute a savings.
Second, although the typical cardboard (e.g., SBS or bleached board) used to manufacture folded food containers often includes a moisture-resistant coating, the presence of food in a container for a substantial period time can nonetheless degrade the cardboard; it is not certain that cardboard containers are suitable for long term storage of food therein. Third, the presence of a wire handle on the container renders these containers unsuitable for reheating the contents thereof in older microwave ovens, the presence of metal in which can cause certain operating difficulties. Fourth, removal of the metal handle--to facilitate microwave heating or for other reasons--permits the cardboard container to unfold and can destroy its leak-proof integrity. Fifth, although the traditional cardboard container, as noted, has its sidewalls sloped at 6.degree. from the vertical to facilitate nested stacking and removal of containers from the stack, the surface of the cardboard and the ease of forcing together adjacent containers in the stack sometimes renders inconvenient the removal of a single container from the stack for the placement of food therein.
An object of the present invention is the provision of a molded plastic container which meets the criteria of the traditional folded cardboard container, particularly those used for the sale of oriental foods, but which avoids the disadvantages of such prior art containers.